Late run boosts Huston-Tillotson past Pioneers

Published 2:37 pm, Monday, November 26, 2012

AUSTIN - Huston-Tillotson scored the last eight points of the game as the Rams defeated Wayland Baptist here Sunday night, 80-73.

The Pioneers (4-4) led 73-72 on a layup by Eric Milam with 1:45 left, but Wayland didn’t score again as the Rams (1-4) posted their first victory of the season.

WBU coach Matt Garnett pointed to his team’s poor defense, then pointed the finger at himself.

“We abandoned our defensive principles and are not playing focused on that end,” Garnett said. “We’re playing hard but we’re not trusting our defensive rotation and trusting our teammates. We have to play smarter defensively.

“I’ve got to do a better job of getting our guys prepared on the defensive end,” the coach added. “That starts with me and my staff.”

Milam led Wayland with 16 points and six rebounds, while Chance Billups hit half of Wayland’s eight 3-pointers toward his 15 points. Travis Payton added 11 points and Reggie Fondren had 10 points, six boards and five assists. Juhreece Thompson was Wayland’s leading rebounder with eight as the Pioneers held a 39-36 rebounding edge, including 16 on the offensive end.

Garnett said Huston-Tillotson is a “tough environment to come play in, which is why we wanted to come here. Huston-Tillotson seemed to have more poise and do things with more cohesiveness than we did. We weren’t able to handle the adversity and do things right.”

The Rams scored the first seven points of the game, but Wayland quickly got back in it to trail 9-7. The Pioneers took their first lead at 18-17 with just under 11 minutes to go in the first half.

It was tied at 30-all when HTU went on a 12-3 run, getting a pair of traditional three-point plays in addition to a 3-point shot to help the Rams assume a 42-33 lead. Wayland added a bucket just before the break and was down by seven at intermission.

The Pioneers again fell behind by nine early in the second half before storming back, tying it at 52-all on a 3-pointer by Billups around the 13-minute mark. After another surge by the Rams gave them a 62-56 lead, back-to-back 3-pointers by Billups - the last one capped by a free throw for a rare four-point play - put Wayland ahead, 65-64, with 6:03 to go.

From there the teams took turns with the lead, with Wayland’s final advantage coming on Milam’s layup that put the Pioneers up 73-72 before HTU’s final eight unanswered points, the last seven of which came at the free-throw line.

Garnett said the final moments were typical of the rest of the game, which saw the Pioneers claw their way back in it only to have HTU pull away.

“We kept battling back, but every time we did that it seemed like we let them make a 6-0 run or a 4-0 run, and that’s exactly how it played out at the end,” he said. “We broke down offensively and defensively. They took a charge and made some other big plays and hit some big shots.”

WBU, which lost an exhibition game to Columbia University, 75-63, in San Francisco just two days earlier, shot 42 percent (25-of-60) from the field, including 8-of-18 from 3-point range, compared to HTU’s 45 percent (27-of-60) and 7-of-19 from long range. The Pioneers were outscored by four at the free-throw line, making 15-of-22 versus the Rams’ 19-of-25. Wayland committed 18 turnovers, two more than the home team.

Wayland returns to the court at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Georgetown against Southwestern University. The Pioneers’ next home game is 7 p.m. Friday against Dallas Christian in what will be Wayland’s last tune-up before the Sooner Athletic Conference opener on Dec. 4 at Lubbock Christian.

“We’ve got to find a way to get a whole lot better by Tuesday,” Garnett said. “This time of year I believe you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.

“Right now time is of the essence and urgency is the name of the game.”